Peddling Prosperity

Economic Sense and Nonsense in an Age of Diminished Expectations

Newsweek hailed Paul Krugman as "a superstar among economists" and went on to praise Peddling Prosperity as "the best primer around on recent U.S. economic history." This wonderfully received book finds him in top form, observing the years he's dubbed "the age of diminished expectations." The past twenty years have been an era of economic disappointment in the United States. They have also been a time of intense economic debate, as rival ideologies contend for policy influence. But strange things have happened to economic ideas on their way to power: they've been hijacked by policy entrepreneurs--economic snake-oil salesmen, right or left, who offer easy answers to hard problems. Supply-siders rose to power with Ronald Reagan and not only cured nothing but also left behind a $3 trillion debt. Krugman finds an unhappy parallel in those who shape policy within the Clinton administration.

Reviews

"[Paul Krugman is] probably the most creative economist of his generation." --The Economist

"In ten lively chapters, Krugman traces how loose economic thinking has repeatedly led to wrongheaded government policies. In the process, he offers the best primer around on recent U.S. economic history." --Marc Levinson, Newsweek